We Are What We Are

2013 Directed by Jim Mickle

Horror Marathon 2024 Day 9 Film 19

Rain pours down on a small community in the Catskills mountains. The rain has forced flooding in the area, and families are having to move away. Against this backdrop a mother dies in the torrential downpour with blood pouring from her mouth. Her various supplies from the department store- spools of rope and food items. Several women have been missing over the years, and the next day a small bone seems to have come from human remains..

Elsewhere the daughters of the fallen mother come in for the autopsy. At home they're tasked with finishing the family tradition- a cannibalistic religious observation that saved their family line through a harsh winter. There are moments where the daughters read about this in their family bible- that salvation is found through sacrifice. I especially liked this idea of cannibalism treated as a spiritual ordeal- For 7 days the family has been fasting, and during those 7 days the film leads us through the devastation of the town. It's a dour movie, with most scenes washed out in the overcast grey-blue filter. It feels like something will eventually burst through the town and swallow it up whole.

The town Doctor investigates and finds disease associated with cannibalism in the mother's autopsy- Michael Parks is able to convey a father's grief in a more humanistic way than many of his other caricature villains. As a horror film the premise of the floating bones creeping up was scarier than a lot of what's shown for the actual cannibalism. The sins of the family have caused the Father's mental capacity to go as well- as though religious tradition carries along with it generations of pent up sorrow. Some of the moodiness drags during the film, but when the finale finally boils over the portrayal of Julia Garner as one of the daughters is especially volatile.